On the bearing capacity of long piles in the middle and upper reaches of Huanghe River

Traditional static loading tests and self-balanced ones were conducted on eight bored long piles of road-rail Huanghe River Bridge in Zhengzhou City to investigate their ultimate load bearing capacities. Their Q-S curves were plotted and bearing capacities obtained. Comparison of these capacities with those suggested in the soil exploration report and those based on the code indicates that those obtained with traditional load tests lie between the corresponding ranges determined according to the code, and are also close to the lower limits, and Q-S curves from traditional tests have marked inflection points. The ultimate load bearing capacities from self-balanced tests are larger than the upper limits from the code, and the corresponding Q-S curves have a gradual descending trend without sharp inflection points. The study has certain reference values for the design of long piles in the region.